My Life In The Week Ended 1 February 2026

Blessings to all who stumble upon my little blog! I do hope that your last week was a good one. Mine was a mixture of being busy at home and venturing further afield. Without further ado let me tell you what I've been up to this week.

What I'm Making

Last week I talked about planning mosaic splashbacks for my new kitchen which we're going to build later this year. This week I actually got down to the nitty-gritty and started the hands-on work. I thought that I'd prepare them early and keep them aside. When the nuts and bolts work starts there'll be no time for playing about with little glass squares!

After transferring my design onto squared paper I found a piece of cardboard big enough to stick it on.. I covered my design it in clingfilm and glued on the backing mesh to make it tile ready. I've now started the actual job of mosaicking and am very pleased with my process. It's one of the few activities where I experience that elusive state of flow.

What My Tuesday Morning Looked Like

Photo: Pixabay: herryway

I'm not a joiner of clubs and societies. Membership smacks of an obligation that I really don't want. Yep, there's deep stuff behind that and I'm working on it! But for the last couple of months I've been attending a drop in yoga class at 9:30am. And, on the same morning, just a few doors down, one of my favourite restaurant hosts a French conversation event complete with coffee and croissants. Just the thing after a bit of downward dog! Some of my friends attend already. Again no commitment is required. You just turn up. This week I tried it out and had fun.

So it seems like my Tuesday mornings might adopt a pattern: bodywork, language practice and hitting the charity shops in town afterwards. I never meant to have a regular timetable but it's might just work out that way.

What I Started Again

In the autumn of 2025 I returned to the Couch to 5K running plan. Injury and illnesses have set me back to square one on numerous occasions and this time around was no exception. That lurgy that I've mentioned before finished me off. I had to give up just before the last run of week five where I was scheduled to run continuously for twenty minutes.

This was a pity as I was using my runs to train for the town's Santa Run which raises money for the local hospice. I wasn't going to be defeated though. This particular Father Christmas (yes that's me!) eventually got around the course at a crawl. Surprisingly she didn't come last.

It's taken a while but finally I've got my breath back to a level where I can maintain a gentle jog. So this week I resumed the plan back at the beginning again, spurred on by comedian, Sarah Millican, who's a Couch to 5K graduate herself. Now you're meant to repeat each week's run three times but, given that I didn't stop running all that long ago I'm doing the early ones just once. No problems so far with my first two runs so I'm moving on to week three next week.

What's Planned

Music on my runs was provided by Sparks. Apparently the Mael brothers were my most played artists of 2025 on Spotify. That's because I've been starstruck ever since I saw them live in Manchester last year. I got a last minute ticket when I visited Manchester for a workshop last year. I was on my ownsome and I broke my 'going to a concert on my own' cherry.

Sparks are in the UK again in 2026 and this time they're playing closer to home in Bristol. This week I was very excited to get tickets for me, Paul and a friend who lives in the city. it's always lovely to have something to look forward to.

Where I've Been

I had a whirlwind overnight stay in Plymouth this week that was packed with activities; sightseeing, eating and catching up with former colleagues. First up a friend and I went to the Box, Plymouth's award winning museum to catch its popular Beryl Cook exhibition. This free event that runs until 31 May is proving very popular. Entrance is largely ticketed and there were no available slots on the day that we wanted to go. Luckily there are walk up places so we took our chance. After a small delay, during which we were sent away to look at additional displays from the museum's permanent collection, we were finally admitted. The main exhibit was definitely worth the wait

Beryl Cook was self-taught and painted the people that she encountered around Plymouth. The exhibitions showcases over eighty pieces of her work. They exude joy and capture the city's colourful down to earth characters. I even got to find out why the subjects are often depicted as more roly-poly than than they might have been in everyday life. Cook didn't care much for painting backgrounds so made her subjects larger.

So there's my week in a nutshell. Thanks for sharing my story. I look forward to telling you what happens next week. It looks like my calendar is quieter but you never know what might turn up.

Love to all.